World Cup 2015: Ishant Sharma helps Mohit Sharma rise Down Under

HAMILTON: All the talk about the Indian pace attack is around Mohammad Shami and Umesh Yadav, but Mohit Sharma has quietly made a mark in the World Cup.
Mohit has fitted into his role of the one-change bowler very well, but he wasn't in the team with only a week to go for the World Cup. It was Ishant Sharma's injury that opened the door for him, but Mohit is indebted to the senior pacer for his support.
"When I came over to Australia, Ishant helped me a lot. During our practice sessions, he helped with his inputs on what should be the ideal line and length with the new and the old ball. Ishant has visited Australia twice and is aware of the conditions; he passed on the knowledge to me," Mohit said, adding that the five-man pace bowling pack is quite a close-knit unit.
The Haryana paceman has been groomed for international cricket by MS Dhoni and Stephen Fleming after he was picked by Chennai Super Kings a couple of years back. Fleming said how Mohit has fitted into the role that he has been given in the team. "I have seen Mohit's progress under CSK bowling coach Andy Bichel. His emotions of playing the World Cup and a good performance against Pakistan in the first game set things up for him. It's very impressive to find him working up a good pace," Fleming said.
Mohit, too, understands what he has to do and he follows Dhoni's instructions to the tee, something that makes him the favourite of the captain. "The way Shami and Umesh bhai are bowling, it has helped me a lot. They have been able to exert a lot of pressure up front. My job is to maintain that pressure, so that the spinners Ashwin and Jadeja are benefitted from it later. My job is to stick to my strengths -- maintain my line and length and bowl according to the wicket -- something that I have done in the last 10 years," Mohit said.
Dhoni had praised the Haryana pacer's bouncer saying that he has got the most number of wickets with the short ball among all the Indian bowlers. Mohit feels it's the skiddy nature of his short balls that get the batsmen on the wrong foot. "Nobody expects my bouncer to come very fast, but it skids. It catches a lot of batsmen off guard and as a result the top edge happens or the batsmen get beaten. But don't forget, I have been hit for fours and sixes off my bouncers as well," Mohit said trying to keep his feet on the ground.